Letter

Band 7+: You attended a formal dinner party hosted by a colleague, but you arrived very late and had to leave early. Write a letter to your colleague apologizing for your behavior. You should include details about: - why you were late and why you had to leave early - how much you enjoyed the evening despite the circumstances - an invitation to meet up another time to make amends.

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Dear Jenifer,

I want to take a moment to express how much I appreciate being invited to your house-warming party last weekend. However, I happened to arrive late due to the traffic, and what is even worse is that I had to leave early because my father was sent to the emergency.

However excited I was when coming to the party, I got stuck in the traffic jam on the highway. I should have expected this because it was a beautiful weekend and everyone would love to enjoy being out and about. Despite my early departure, the unfamiliar route still took me quite some time to get out of the traffic and find my way out. After roughly an hour at your beautiful house, I received a call from my brother about my father getting a heart stroke and being treated in the emergency room. I was terrified by the news and rushed to the hospital without noticing you before I left.

Knowing how well prepared and dedicated you are for the party at your very first house, I’ve been feeling terrible that I couldn’t have shared the joy with you to the fullest.

Yesterday, when I went out shopping at the mall, I found an adoreable set of teacup I think that you would like very much. I believe it would be a perfect match for a fan of tea like you at your new place.

I hope you’ll consider accept these cups as my apology and enjoy some morning tea with them.

Warm regards,

Trang

Word Count: 257

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Overall Band Score

(+/- 0.5)

Vocabulary Complexity:
B1 - Intermediate
Using more sophisticated words could be beneficial.

Grammar Mistakes: N/A

Vocabulary Repetition:

being: 3

party: 3

traffic: 3

would: 3

Try using synonyms for the above words

Task Response

The letter fully addresses all parts of the task. The candidate provides specific and logical reasons for the lateness and early departure, clearly expresses their feelings of regret, and offers a thoughtful gesture to make amends. The tone is appropriate for a colleague who is also a friend. To further improve, ensure minor grammatical accuracy in complex structures (e.g., 'consider accepting' instead of 'consider accept' and 'heart stroke' instead of 'heart attack' or 'stroke'), though these do not detract from the overall task achievement.

Coherence & Cohesion

The letter is logically organized, and the progression of ideas follows the prompts provided in the task. You successfully transitioned from explaining the lateness to the emergency, and finally to the apology. However, there is some repetition of ideas (e.g., mentioning the traffic and the difficulty of the route multiple times) which slightly affects the flow. To improve, try to consolidate your explanations to avoid redundancy and use a wider variety of cohesive devices to link your sentences more smoothly.

Lexical Resource

You have used a good range of vocabulary, such as 'house-warming party,' 'unfamiliar route,' and 'dedicated.' There are some minor errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'sent to the emergency' (should be 'taken to the emergency room') and 'heart stroke' (should be 'heart attack' or 'stroke'). Additionally, 'an adoreable set of teacup' should be 'an adorable set of teacups.' Aim for more precise collocations to achieve a more natural and sophisticated tone.

Grammatical Range & Accuracy

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as the use of 'However excited I was...' which is quite advanced. However, there are several grammatical inaccuracies that prevent a higher score. These include issues with verb patterns (e.g., 'consider accept' should be 'consider accepting'), noun number (e.g., 'set of teacup'), and article usage. Pay close attention to subject-verb agreement and the correct use of gerunds after certain verbs to improve your overall accuracy.

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